Probably the very earliest allusion in literature to the ornamental use of amber appears in Homer’s Odyssey,[47] where we read:
Eurymachus Received a golden necklace, richly wrought, And set with amber beads, that glowed as if With sunshine. To Eurydamas there came A pair of ear-rings, each a triple gem, Daintily fashioned and of exquisite grace. Two servants bore them.
Amber ingeniously carved into animal forms has been discovered in tumuli at Indersoen, Norway.[48] These curious objects were worn as amulets, and the peculiar forms were supposed to enhance the power of the material, giving it special virtues and rendering it of greater value and efficacy.
Pieces of amber with singular natural markings were greatly esteemed, especially when these markings suggested the initials of the name of some prominent person. Thus, we are told that Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia paid to a dealer a high price for a piece of amber on which appeared his initials. The same dealer had another piece on which he read the initials of Charles XII of Sweden. When he received the news of this king’s death, he bitterly lamented having lost the opportunity of selling him amber for a high price. But he was cleverly consoled by Nathaniel Sendal, the relator of the story, who easily persuaded the dealer that the markings could just as well signify the initials of some other name. Sendal adduces this as a proof that the letters read on such pieces of amber were as much the product of the observer’s imagination as of the markings on the material.[49] Those who secured amber so mysteriously marked by Nature’s hand probably felt that they had obtained a talisman of great power, especially destined for their use.
[Illustration: 1. Amber ornament, perforated, from Assyrian grave.
3. Large annular bead of amber from Mexico. Aztec work.
4. Amber wedding necklace. Eighteenth century. Baltic Provinces.
5. Amber beads. Worn by African natives.]
While the special and traditional virtue of the amethyst was the cure of drunkenness, many other qualities were attributed to this stone in the fifteenth century. For Leonardo,[50] it had the power to control evil thoughts, to quicken the intelligence, and to render men shrewd in business matters. An amethyst worn on the person had a sobering effect, not only upon those who had partaken too freely of the cup that intoxicates, but also upon those over-excited by the love-passion. Lastly, it preserved soldiers from harm and gave them victory over their enemies, and was of great assistance to hunters in the capture of wild animals. The amethyst shared with many other stones the power to preserve the wearer from contagion.[51]